Mid-Autumn Festival 2026 falls on 25 September, the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month 1. That night, whether you are back home in Sichuan, in a European city, or in a harbour town in Africa or South-east Asia, the moon you look up at is the same one.
Sharing the moon across a thousand miles
Admiring the moon at Mid-Autumn is an old custom and was already flourishing by the Song dynasty 2. At Mid-Autumn in 1076, in Mizhou, Su Shi "drank happily until dawn" and wrote his lyric to the tune "Prelude to the Water Melody", thinking of his younger brother Su Zhe, whom he had not seen for years:
May we all live long, and share this lovely moon though a thousand miles apart.
— Su Shi, "Prelude to the Water Melody"
These lines have been loved for generations because they speak for everyone who is separated from family: people may be apart, but the moonlight can still be shared 3. Centuries earlier, the Tang poet Zhang Jiuling had written that "over the sea rises the bright moon; at the ends of the earth we share this moment". One moon joins people across any distance.
Reunion far from home
Today more and more Chinese people study, work and settle abroad. At Mid-Autumn they may not find mooncakes with a familiar filling, and the time difference may mean missing a video call with family. Still, they look for something that makes the day feel like home: a box of mooncakes, a table of home cooking, a glass of spirit from the place they grew up. Mid-Autumn has always been a time for visiting relatives and exchanging gifts; what a gift really carries is the message "I am thinking of you", and one sent across mountains and seas carries it all the more.
Qifu's spirits now travel to Europe, Africa and Asia. The export bottling Shun Tun is listed at Systembolaget, Sweden's national retailer, so Nordic friends can taste Sichuan strong aroma too. Bainian Qifu · 8 makes a fitting Mid-Autumn gift: a red bottle, a red gift box and gold calligraphy that feel festive the moment they are opened. The name Qifu means "blessings, all together", which suits a festival of reunion. Made from sorghum, wheat, rice, glutinous rice and corn, at 52% vol, it enters smoothly with a full pit aroma and a long, sweet finish, and sits comfortably beside mooncakes, nuts or a plate of braised dishes from home.
A small glass under the moon
Su Shi drank until dawn that night, but there is no need to follow him all the way. Sit together as a family, pour a few small glasses, raise one to the relatives far away and one to those beside you, and stop at a sip or two, clear-headed enough to enjoy the moon and the conversation. That is the best kind of reunion. If you are driving, raise a cup of tea instead.
The moon is full every year, yet being together always feels precious. Whether you are below the Longmen Mountains in Mianzhu or in a harbour city thousands of miles away, we wish you a bright moon and a peaceful Mid-Autumn.
